And They Shall Know No Fear
by ThunderStrike
Summary: In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war. Blood Angels kick the crap outta chaos scum Space marine stylee!
1. And They Shall Know No Fear - Part 1

Instinctively he dodged right. The explosive bolter shell meant for his head went wide and ricocheted off the large shoulder pad of his power armour. His reflexes, genetically enhanced and honed to perfection over the course of thousands of battles over hundreds of years, had saved him... this time. He dropped back into the trench to avoid further attack.   
"Are you ok sir?" his fellow brother-marine's voice came through over the built in com-system of his helmet.  
"I'm fine, it just glanced off my armour." He replied. "I want a report from this post every 15 minutes, and if you see anything move, shout out marine." He turned and followed the maze of trenches back to the command post. Once inside the rockrete HQ, he reached for the safety seals of his helmet, disengaged them and removed it. He placed it down on the table, and walked into the operations room.  
"Update!" he barked, striding over to the cluster of marines huddled around a tactical display, and his second in command and blood brother Veteran Sergeant Wulf. They two had fought side by side in some of the most violent conflicts this galaxy had to offer, and were close friends, having saved each other's lives on numerous occasions.  
"Back from the lines so soon commander?" Wulf grinned and handed him a data pad.  
"It got a little too excited" he quipped back, indicating the chink in his shoulder pad. .   
"The data is up to the minute." His friend stated, "No significant losses, our vanguard is at 85%. We have sufficient force to finish this once and for all."  
"And the enemy has made sufficient error to allow us. When I was attacked, I was in the southern trench. Until now there has been no cultist activity in that area, so they must be spreading their lines thin in order to surround us." He moved to the map table " If we break through here, the lines will collapse, we can assault their stronghold, bring it down and leave the mopping up to the Imperial Guard. Wulf, I need you to get the assault squads prepped, they will be our first wave. Raan, do the same for the Rhino transports and the attack bikes and don't forget..."  
  
After issuing the necessary orders to ensure the readiness of his company, he went to the armoury to ensure his own. Close combat looked inevitable, so he chose a power axe, an adamantium axe surrounded by a powerful energy field that would discharge on impact, rending the target apart. He also decided on his trusty boltgun and for his sidearm he took a plasma pistol. Lastly, a belt of frag grenades completed his arsenal. His weapons chosen, he had a Techmarine repair the chink in his shoulder pad, lest the imperfection lead to a greater one, impairing him in the battle to come.   
  
His body was prepared and equipped, and now for his spirit. He went to the small sanctum the HQ provided and spent an hour in prayer to his Lord Primarch. As he exited, walking out onto assembly ground where the attack force was waiting, his body and soul ready to wage war, he found Wulf waiting for him.  
"The men are ready. Their weapons are ready. Their armour is ready. Their spirits are ready. Is their commander?"   
"Yes. I am ready"  
"Then the day will be ours"  
"Good hunting Wulf, Go with honour"  
"You too sir."  
As Wulf stepped to his side, he spoke one word into his comlink, addressing the entire force under his command.  
"ATTACK!"  
  
The bike units screeched off first, heading for the enemies flank. The assault squads with their short-range jump packs took off, in slow bounding arcs toward their targets. The Rhino troop transports raced towards the front lines to drop off their troops. Battle was about to commence.  
  
Rexus Agmar, Captain of the 3rd Company of the Blood Angels Chapter of Space Marines, in the service of the mighty Imperium of Mankind, and power armoured warrior in defence of humanity, drew himself to his full height, mounted his personal attack bike and prepared to claim glory for his Company, his Chapter, and for the Imperium.  
  
"TO VICTORY!"  
  
To be continued. 


	2. And They Shall Know No Fear - Part 2

"VICTORY!"  
  
The words were still ringing in his ears as he pushed his bike to the limit of its speed, rocketing towards the front lines like a bat out of hell. He could see now, the hastily erected fortifications, the earthworks and razor wire that the Chaos cultists cowered behind, hope it would them some small protection. Let them hope all they desire, Rexus thought, for when the day is done your corpses will rot in those trenches. Agmar could feel the bloodlust filling him, his righteous anger burning to be released in battle. And he knew, though the cultist forces numbered over a thousand, that his fifty Space Marines would easily slay 20 cultists or more apiece. His were the finest warriors in the galaxy, and they would eradicate these pitiful heretics with impunity.  
  
An assortment of figures dressed in black cloaks, wielding swords and autoguns scrambled out of the trenches and rushed to meet his troops, screaming litanies and chants of death. Let them come. He would slay them himself.  
  
He activated his comlink. "Rhino's one and two, disembark fifty meters from fortifications and provide covering fire. Assault squads; attack the enemy in hand to hand on my mark. All attack bikes, form up on me and prepare to engage"  
He heard the Rhino's screeching to a stop, the jump packs of the assault marines humming, ready to launch them into the fight. He looked to his rear, and saw that the other bikes were in position. Everything was ready. "Engage!"  
  
He fired the twin-liked bolters of his bike into the mob of cultists, tearing three of them apart with its explosive shells. He took his right hand from the handlebar, reached for the power axe slung over his back. He flicked the activation switch to on with his thumb as he drove into the middle of the cultists, swinging the axe in a sweeping horizontal arc that bisected one man, the energy field exploding his torso in the process and splattering the area with his innards. Another cultist was crushed beneath the bike's large wheels, yelling his defiance to the last. He was clearing the crowd now, but he quickly jinked to the left in order to behead one last one, his screams of war cut short along with the stump of his neck. The survivors would have to be left to his comrades.   
  
He pushed on towards the enemy trenches at full speed and spying a slight incline near the edge, headed for it. He pulled the bike into a wheelie as he hit the incline, launching it into the air and soaring over the trench and its fortifications to crunch into the ground on the other side. He pulled a 180-degree skid that brought the bike to halt facing the backs of the enemy troops. They turned, trying to bring their weapons to bear, but it was too late. He laid into them a sustained volley of fire from the bikes twin-linked bolters and his own plasma pistol that cut them down like chaff. The assault squads had slain the cultists to either side of him, and with the help of cover fire from the marines that had been in the Rhinos, the remaining bikers had dispatched the mob that had attacked them. Now, all were now crossing the trenches via plasteel boards that had been taken from the storage compartments on one of the Rhinos and laid across the gap.  
  
Rexus Agmar dismounted his bike and surveyed the scene. They were through. After months of fighting a dirty little war of attrition against an enemy that knew how to use its greater numbers to its advantage, they were through. The enemy had made the mistake of spreading their lines too thin, and they had paid the price when Rexus and his marines punched through. This, the initial assault had succeeded, but it was only the initial assault. They had punched through, but only at the weakest point. The trench extended for half a kilometer in either direction, and he knew if the HQ were to be attacked now, the troops in still in the trench would return to the HQ behind his force and surround him.  
No. The trenches would have to be cleared out completely. He activated his comlink.  
"All marines equipped with flamers and hand flamers, form into two five-man fire teams and prepare to enter the trench"  
The men immediately set about their orders, Rexus did not need to sort them into teams himself, he and his men performed endless drills to hone their organisational skills and each marine knew his place. Not having to concern himself with such things leaves a commander free to attend to other matters more worthy of his attention.  
"Sergeants Wulf and Raan, each of you assume command of one fire team, and follow the trench in opposite directions to its ends, burning out the heretic scum. Update me every five minutes. Move out."  
"Yes sir" Wulf and Raan replied simultaneously. They mustered them men assigned to them and carried out their orders.  
  
To be continued.  



	3. And They Shall Know No Fear - Part 3

Over the next half an hour the only sounds were the roars of the flamers and the hideous screams of the dying as the marines in the fire teams went about their work. The screams disturbed no one; they were Space Marines, hardened against all the horrors of this galaxy. And the dying were Chaos cultists, traitors that had betrayed humanity when they swore allegiance to the foul Chaos Gods. To the marines, they were heretics who defiled the Imperium and were beneath contempt.   
Though there must have been a hundred cultists in either direction, they had no room to overwhelm the marines and were forced to face them one or two at a time. Coupled with the effectiveness of the flamers in the confines of the trench, the clearing out was swift and brutal in is efficiency.   
  
Raan was the first to report objective achieved.  
"All opposing forces removed sir. Returning to battle group"  
"Good work sergeant" Rexus cut the link and opened one to Wulf.  
"Progress Wulf?"  
"Heretics eliminated, but two Brother-Marines down. Dorn is dead and Viel is badly wounded. One cultist threw a grenade before we could take him out. Dorn and Viel had point at the time."   
Agmar cursed. Despite its incredible effectiveness, power armour was not impregnable and two Brother-Marines were out of the fight. Wulf continued.  
"I take full responsibility for this, as leader I should have taken point, I..."  
"Not your fault Wulf. Casualties are terrible but inevitable. We fifty marines are waging a battle against twenty times as many cultists, and no matter how better trained, equipped and armoured we are, lives will be lost. But it is our sacred duty to ensure that we wipe out these heretics to the last man. We will have our vengeance. We will bring the full wrath of the Blood Angels upon their headquarters and the corridors will run red with the blood of the damned. But now, I pray for Dorn's spirit and Viel's life."  
"As do I sir."  
"Good. I am diverting one of the Rhinos from supply runs to your position. Get Dorn and Viel into it, then you and your remaining marines return to us. We have work to attend to."  
"Yes sir" he replied, his voice heavy with wrath and zeal. "Wulf out."  
  
When the Veteran Sergeant arrived back with his remaining three marines, the battle group was ready. The second Rhino had been to HQ and back for ammo and supplies. Armour had been field repaired by Techmarine Altus where necessary, weapons reloaded and checked for jams. The bikes and jump packs had been re-fuelled, and were ready to go. The battle group was at nearly full strength, minus Dorn, Viel, and one bike after its less experienced rider had tried to repeat his Captains trench-jumping feat and failed. But the rider had survived unharmed, and after a disciplining by Rexus, was moving out on foot.   
  
In total, they had so far wiped out around 400 cultists, leaving around 600 garrisoned at the HQ. It would be a hard fight, but they were Blood Angels; proud, noble and lethal.  
They would prevail.  
He turned to his second in command.  
"Wulf, I've had the Rhino bring you a jump pack up from HQ. For the final attack, I want you to lead the assault squads. You will be in the midst of the battle, at close-quarters with the enemy. Do you accept?"  
"Yes sir!" Wulf replied instantly, his joy barely concealed. He have the opportunity to take his vengeance face to face.   
"Then get ready. We attack in..."  
  
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!"  
This unholy scream hang in the air for a few seconds, everything else silent and still before the Space Marines exploded into action. Instantaneously every member of the battle group had his weapon trained in the direction of the scream.  
  
"Vectus, what the hell was that? Report marine."   
Squad leader Vectus, who had been leading a patrol to watch for enemy movements replied "one hundred to two hundred cultists have appeared, charging for your position.  
They are armed for close combat, they mean to overrun you with strength of numbers."  
"Thank you. Next time I expect you to inform me of enemy attacks before the enemy do. Re-join the battle group, we will need your help."  
"Yes sir, on my way"  
  
Rexus addressed all his troops.  
"There are one hundred to two hundred cultists heading for this position. Everyone into the trenches, double file. I want a tactical marines with ranged weaponry in front, all assault marines behind. When they get too close for bolters, take them in hand to hand. Wait for my signal to fire."  
The marines dropped into positions, and prepared to lay down a devastating hail of fire to take out as many cultists as possible before mopping up the remainder in close combat.  
  
"Enemy sighted"  
There they were, crossing the ridge that lead to the HQ. They were chanting, screaming, swinging chainswords and axes wildly, getting closer, closer, closer.  
  
"Wait,.... Wait,.... FIRE!" Rexus bellowed.  
The marines opened fire, their bolters spewing rapid-fire death. Dozens of cultists fell under this barrage, but still they came, driven by an unholy fire. The noise, from the bolters and the screaming would have been unbearable were it not for the ambient sound dampeners in the marines helmets that allowed them to select what they wanted to hear and filtered the rest out. The cultists were just too crazed to notice, or care.   
Agmar sighted up, fired. A scream as his target died with a gaping hole in his chest. He sighted, fired again, and again, and again. Two thirds of the enemy force down he estimated.   
  
And then they were upon them.  
"Melee weapons!" He roared, and the marines dropped their bolters and switched to whatever close combat weapon they were carrying, and began hacking at the zealous cloaked figures dropping into the trench. For five minutes, a thin line of red power armoured figured fought the dark enemy with chainswords, power swords, power axes and their fists. Agmar only knew his part of the fight, he cut down cultist after cultist with his axe, then leaning over to deliver a sucker punch to one that shattered his skull and hurled him backwards. Another fell before him, and he crushed the life from the heretic with the boot of his power armour.   
Then it was over.  
The marines looked around, seeking another victim, but none were to be found, all were lying broken in the trench. Rexus hauled himself out, checked himself, his armour. He was unscathed.  
"Casualties?"  
"Three sir"  
"Sanguinius bless their souls. Place them in the Rhino, get them back to base."  
  
It was time.  
The enemy were only four hundred strong. His marines, having tested their mettle and proved their abilities in hand to hand fighting were ready for more. And so was he.   
"Marines, assume battle positions. Bikes down the right flank, stand watch outside the HQ when we reach it. Tactical Marines, prepare to enter via the ground floor access and clear it out one floor at a time, working your way up. I will lead. Assault marines, use your jump packs to get onto the roof, and clear it, and work your way down one floor at a time. Veteran Sergeant Wulf will lead. No prisoners. Move out."  
"Yes sir!" the marines echoed.  
  
It was time.  
  
To be continued. 


	4. And They Shall Know No Fear - Part 4

As the forty-strong company of marines began their march on the cultist's headquarters, an eerie silence descended upon the proceedings, a stark contrast to the deafening thunder of war that had come before. Rexus noted that his men appeared even more alert than usual, if that were possible, constantly scanning their surroundings, weapons at the ready. Good, he thought. The more alert, the better. Just so long as it did not make the transition to paranoia and nervousness. But these were Space Marines, the finest warriors the Imperium had to offer, and these marines under his command now were some of the finest his chapter had to offer. He would not have traded this unit for a million regular soldiers of the Imperial Guard. It is more than camaraderie that forms the bonds between marines, it is true brotherhood. The sense of unity and purpose within Space Marine chapters cannot be found anywhere else in the galaxy, and that of the Blood Angels chapter is as strong as any other's, if not more so. Despite their superior leadership, equipment and training, marines live and die by the basics. Never would a fallen brother-marine be left to the enemy, never would a marine retreat in the face of the enemy, even if this meant being wiped out to the last man. This is what it meant to be a Space Marine.   
In this case, the basics were simple. There is no room for error here, so none would be made. There was too much at stake here for the slightest error in judgement, or the slightest lapse in guard. The marines knew this and were prepared. Forty-five against four hundred were not favorable odds, even for Space Marines, but fifty against one thousand would have been far worse.   
  
The battle group reached the peak of the rise, and the objective came into view. The headquarters was barely recognizable from the schematics the Planetary Governor had transmitted them. What should have been a very large rockrete building with adjoining structures on the ground floor was at least half as big again, and covered in pipes and tubing that snaked across the structure. Banners of all four of the Chaos gods hung adorned the building, but predominantly those of Khorne, the God of War, The Blood God. No wonder these cultists were so anxious for close combat, Rexus though, they seek sacrifices for Khorne. He remembered the piercing cry the leader of the group that attacked them had shrieked. Blood for the Blood God. Alongside the banners, hung the grizzly mutilated bodies of those who had occupied this place when it was a City Hall. For the most part, the city had been leveled during the initial uprising, leaving behind plenty of debris for use as cover. Time to move in.  
  
"Wulf, I want to maintain stealth for as long as possible. That means no jump-packs until I give the word, and Raan, tell the other riders that the bikes must run silent. Advance slowly, make as best use of cover as you can. Squad leaders, report in when your teams are as far forward as cover allows. Do not give your positions away prematurely. On my mark, attack according to plan."  
  
Twenty minutes later, the last of the squad leaders checked in. Agmar ran through the plan one more time in his head. The four remaining bike units, lead by Raan, were to head straight for the front entrance, gunning down as many enemy troops as possible, securing the entryway. He would lead the two tactical squadrons, twenty men in all, along the same path as the bikes and into the building via the entrance the bikes had secured, eliminating all resistance and ascending to the next floor, one at a time. The two assault squadrons, twenty marines with jump-packs, led by Wulf would jump up to the roof, and do the same only working their way down. The goal was to locate the command room as quickly as possible, and take out any high-ranking cultists, transmitters, communications equipment and the like. But now with the increased size of the structure that could prove daunting. Who knows what alterations had been made inside the building, designed by some dark mind to keep intruders at bay? Rexus uttered a final word of caution to his troops, and gave the go-ahead.   
  
The engines of the bike roared as the riders gunned the collective throttles and made their run on the objective. They opened fire on the group of cultist huddled round the doorway, cutting them down instantly. The assault squadrons took to the air in one long arc that would land them on the roof, whilst picking off any targets that presented themselves. Rexus gave the signal to the tactical squadrons, and they broke from cover and advanced. The bikes were drawing a fair amount of fire from open windows, and it would worsen the closer they got. Rexus activated his comm-link.   
  
"Marines! Suppressing fire through any open windows, arm both rocket launchers with fragmentation rounds; aim for the mid-level stories. First squad; flank left, second squad; follow me down the right flank, pincer movement on the doorway. Go!"  
  
Half the marines broke left, headed in a wide curve for the entrance, bolters chattering, aimed upwards. The rocket launcher marine stopping every fifty meters to reload, take aim and fire, the remaining marines adjusting pace to ensure he did not fall behind. The second squad waited for his lead. Rexus slung his axe over his backpack, hefted his bolter into one hand and pulled the plasma pistol out of its holster, activated it, hearing the dull hum of the weapon as the firing chamber charged, ready to fire. He checked his bolter's magazine, full. Ready. He jumped to his feet, clambered of the stone wall he had been crouched behind, half crushing it under the combined weight of him and his power armor. Clear of cover, he broke into a fast paced jog through the debris strewn streets and collapsed buildings that had formed the city, but not so fast as to distance him from the squad and make him an easy target.  
  
Just then, a large half-track open-topped vehicle made its move from behind a damaged but still standing structure behind Agmar to the right. Like the bikes, it had been powered down, waiting to strike. He could see that it would pass in front of his squads on a diagonal intercept course for the bikes. The bolters mounted on the bikes were fixed and forward firing, and the half-track was approaching from a direction from which they could not defend themselves. The half-track was well armed, Rexus observed, a tripod mounted twin-autocannon with a probable 360 degree field of fire, and then there were about half a dozen cultists aboard it as well, armed with lasguns and autoguns. The bikes were on a straight road with no room to get out of the way, they would be out-gunned and out-maneuvered.   
  
"Open fire on that vehicle! Don't let it get within range of the bikes" He ordered, but he knew it would not be enough. The half-track had not passed in front of them yet, but it was getting close. Agmar holstered his bolter, too cumbersome for what he had in mind, and reached for his power axe. He broke into a full run for the point where the half-track would pass them. He was closer, and would reach it first, but only just. By now the half-track's crew had noticed him, and were bringing their weapons to bear. Shots pinged off the ground and whizzed past him, but a moving target shooting to hit a moving target were not favorable conditions for accurate fire. Rexus saw the building nearest to the road the half-track was on was only partially destroyed, and contained a stairwell. Excellent, he thought, and headed for it as fast as he could. He smashed through the broken door frame, too small for him anyway, and hoped the stairs would take his weight, but he doubted it was designed to take the full load of an eight foot tall, heavily built and muscled space marine warrior clad in two hundred and fifty pounds worth of power armor running at full speed. But the stairs held. He charged up them as the half-track roared ever closer, and reaching the top he located the wall parallel to the road and without pause grabbed his power axe and charged through it into thin air. The upper wall of the house exploded outwards and a blood-red figure with it, just as the vehicle passed by. Power armor is not designed for aerodynamics, but Rexus had put enough force behind the leap to cross the requisite distance, firing his plasma pistol, and bringing his axe over his head, ready to strike. The six cultists barely had time to react before Agmar slammed into the passenger compartment, a massive impact that threw two cultists clear of the half-track into a hail of bolter fire. He had brought his power axe in a vertical arc that, on landing, had cleaved another in half from head to toe. Simultaneously he raised his plasma pistol and put a flaming hole in the fourth mans chest, and swung his axe, horizontally this time, and gutted the last two. The gunner manning the twin autocannon finally swung it round to bear on Agmar, but before he could open up a hail of rapid fire to stop Rexus dead, he had ducked under the twin barrels and decapitated him, his severed head landing at the road side. The driver, unsure of what was going on over the noise of the engine, sped up, hoping to throw the attacker off. Rexus holstered his pistol, slung his axe over his backpack and grabbed the triggers of the twin auto cannon, pivoted it round to point at the driver's compartment, and opened fire. The caseless autocannon shell shredded the driver and the controls of the vehicle, sending it veering out of control. It locked into a hard right turn and rolled over, smashing into a pile of rubble. Its fuel tanks detonated, and a huge fireball consumed it. Agmar had leapt from the vehicle the second after he killed the driver, crunching into the ground without falling over thanks the suits built in stabilizer, and had gotten clear just before the explosion which scorched his armor.   
  
The ten marines of his assigned squad caught up with him shortly after, but there was no time for congratulations and pats on the back, the HQ, now only yards away, was waiting. The bikes, free from hindrance had completed their run and had parked up at the entrance, the way clear for the tactical squads. There was a scream from above and a cloaked figure crashed to the ground. Rexus contacted Wulf.   
  
"Update sergeant"  
"We have taken the roof sir, more resistance than expected, but no casualties."  
"More resistance than expected. That phrase seems to be cropping far too often."  
"Yes sir. Saw your stunt from up here. I think we should talk to the Planetary Governor when this is all over."  
"Agreed. For now though, break your men into five-man combat teams, give them orders to sweep and clear every room on every floor. Wait for my signal before engaging."  
"Yes sir. Wulf out."  
  
The two tactical squads completed their flanking arcs and regrouped with the bikes at the doorway. Rexus put his twenty marines into four five-man teams, and gave them the same orders and to comm him as soon as the command center was located.   
  
Agmar gave the signal to engage, grabbed his power axe, breathed a silent prayer, and walked through the doorway into the darkness.  
  
  



End file.
